I went out to Silverthorne today, and it seemed like things were starting to turn, but not at their peak yet. (http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1242962)
I hope the next two weekends are still good.
But, even if it's not peak color, the mountains are still beautiful.

Thanks for the update Craig - I have reservations in CB on Friday and Saturday night so I can shoot Friday afternoon through Sunday AM on Kebler and Ohio. When trying to make reservations it's always a roll of the dice as to whether or not you picked the right weekend, but it looks like this weekend will be pretty good, if not quite perfect. Again, thanks for the update. If you (or anyone else for that matter) are still going to be in the area this weekend, drop me a PM and I'll forward you a cell number if you'd like to meet up.

I was updated by a friend shooting today in Aspen that snow has definitely arrived at the Maroon Bells, and quite a bit. The shot I saw looked a little more like winter than fall with snow starting to accumulate all the way down to lake level. Should be very interesting up there and it sounds like the snow on the peaks will be sticking around indefinitely.
Paul

stanparker wrote:
I drove to Ouray today, going north on 145 through Rico and Telluride. There was some nice color in patches along the river, not aspen for the most part. There were only a few splashes of color in the aspens. Rain caught me at Ouray, so I haven't checked along 550 yet.

I drove from Durango to Ridgway yesterday. Color along 550 between Ouray and Silverton is very good. Not quite peak, but well on its way. The best color right now is definitely centered around Silverton.

It is still much too green, overall, for the truly spectacular shots along the preferred locations: Dallas Divide, Aspen, Crested Butte, Marble (Crystal Mill) etc. Yes, a few groves are nearing peak here and there but the hills are not blanketed in yellow just yet. Maybe in a week.

I got here in Snowmass(Aspen was tooooo expensive to stay) yesterday afternoon. Went to MB to check it out, there wasn't muh of color except right under the Bells, but a few pieces of clouds drifted by.

When I got there early this morning(6:15AM, sunrise was 6:57AM), most of the parking lot was FULL. There were at least three dozen photogs anxiously waiting for theSunrise. The temp was chill 27F at the parking lot.

At the sunrise, there was absolutely no cloud! Well, I suppose you can't have everything. But there was substantial amount of yellow colors right under the Bells.

After leaving the Bells, headed to Castle Valley area, which showed almost no color changes(maybe 10-15%). Proceeded to Ascroft area then to the end of the road, where the road was closed for the season(I believe). Temp here was 25F at 8:15AM, ground was covered with frost and snow. Here I saw the most colors so far.

Here's a few of my contribution for this report.
New laptop, wasn't calibrated in time for the trip.

1. Maroon Bells - Sept 24th 2013
2 & 3 Ashcroft area - these images were taken at 9700' elevation, the snow covered peak should be around 11,000' high.

Minimum post processing except the first one was 2 exposure(jpeg) blend.

Very nice conditions! Still at least a week away from lighting up though. The snow is perfect for dramatic images now it's just a matter of waiting for the colors to peak. Barring any windstorms the conditions should improve during the next week.

Grand Mesa also had snow yesterday. Mostly green, but a few small patches of beautiful towards the top. These are a day old, all from the north side of Grand Mesa. Drove to Dallas Divide today .... nothin - Jim

Drove from Ouray to Molas Pass today. Good color, near peak, between Ouray and the top of Red Mountain Pass. Lots of compositional possibilities. Down to Silverton, mostly evergreens, only small patches of color. It was mostly right by the highway, hard to work into a scene. Also not much from Silverton to Molas Pass. The snow from Sunday night is melting, but forecast is for more rain Thurs & Fri, which I think will add snow up high. Very windy today, hope wind/rain don't knock the leaves off.

Called off the trip I'd tentatively planned for this weekend, as I just don't see the color being far enough along to warrant it. Really looks like things are running 10+ days slower than last year, unfortunately. Guessing the best overall color for the San Juans up to Kebler/Capitol Peak will be late next week or weekend.

skyinmotion wrote:
Called off the trip I'd tentatively planned for this weekend, as I just don't see the color being far enough along to warrant it. Really looks like things are running 10+ days slower than last year, unfortunately. Guessing the best overall color for the San Juans up to Kebler/Capitol Peak will be late next week or weekend.

I think this weekend and early next week will be the best, actually. Have you looked at the Crested Butte ski area cam?

I'm at Crested Butte at this moment. No intenet access or cell phone at the Chair Mountain Ranch in Marble, unable to upload any images. With warm day time temp (50-60) and freezing cold through the night, colors are changing FAST. I think this weekend will be very close to PEAK if not the peak.

The grove in front of my eyes are SOLID GOLD. Driving through the Kebler pass, I would say 30% to 40% changed. I will update once I get wired. :-(

Attached is an celll phone image taken moments earlier. Sorry for huge size, dont know how to resize in Samsung SIII